1. Why we are giving one year of our lives towards this project.

Almost everything these days is a question of money. Apartments, education, time, advice, security, “big politics”, of course, but also art. Sometimes it seems like we are living in an age of
cynicism. An age in which people, like Oscar Wilde once said, "Know the price of everything and the value of nothing".

And we often forget that everything that really matters is priceless: the love for our nearest and dearest, joy in life, looking boldly into the horizon. It is what has helped humanity progress.
And what spurs people on: courage, imagination, or – in one word – hope.

That is why we believe that it is time for a project that promotes hope for individuals. Because each and every one of us can make a difference, provided we dream, make plans, and work and act on
them.

We believe art has always been the best medium for creating a future. Because art not only sees things as they are, but also what they could be like.

We do not want to ask for money for ourselves. For several reasons: First, we think art should not be just a question of money. Everyone should be able to have art in their life if they wish..

Second, because we live on Paros. A small island belonging to Greece. A country in crisis. For years now, all the headlines have revolved around just one topic: debt, austerity programs, and
money. And here in Greece, many are experiencing real, desperate poverty.

Third,more and moredesperate peoplearound
the world are forced to flee,expelled from their homes.

For us, by all what is needed to solve this crisis, the right answer to this situation is: Friendliness. Generosity. Beauty. And last but not least, something the Greeks brought to Europe over
three thousand years ago: art.

2. How we are able to do this project.

We have proven it works. We have already carried out another project: “Paintings for Hope”. Over a period of one year, we sent a painting to those who sent us in a hope for that painting.

There were heartwarming hopes. Some general ones, like: “I hope that from every difficulty grows strength.” Others, more political: “I hope for peace in Palestine.” Some were heartbreaking, like:
“I hope, after the death of her father, for a peaceful life with my daughter.” And some were funny. Like for this painting, for example:

“I want to see a square rainbow before I’m old.”

(Here you can see a gallery of the paintings and winners, to get an idea of the diversity of the paintings in terms of their content,
their location around the globe, their new owners, their hopes and their comments.)

After this project, many people urged us to carry on. However, we did not just want to do the same thing again. We thought about
how we could make this project even better, more consistent, more effective. And decided to risk doing it the other way around: not to give away a ready-made painting for a hope, but to transform
and create a hope into a painting. (Or, to be more precise: two paintings: one based directly on the relevant hope and one as a commentary.)

3. Please tell everyone, share the hope and encourage people to participate.

Please spread the word to your friends and to everyone that you think may benefit from participating in our "Hope & Give Project".

Please connect us with like-minded partners, institutions, art lovers and any other people who would be interested in this worldwide social sculpture project.

We welcome your advice.

Sign-up for our newsletter (see right side).

Thank you in advance.

4. As the project ends. (Never, actually...)

In a year's time, we will hold together major exhibitions worldwide at 730 actual locations and more online as well as a large digital and printed publication.

And until then, we will promote each new project which is inspired by our social sculpture, the 'Hope & Give Project'.

So all this will not end, but continue to start over and over again.

5. A formula for fulfilling hopes.

For this project, we have read a lot about “hope”, thought about it, and spoken to countless people about their dreams, desires, and experiences.

We could write a short book about it, but we will keep it brief. The formula that personally seems the best to us is based on a short quote from Hannah Arendt. She also called it “the only method
for predicting the future.” We chose it as the motto for our project.